Wildebeest herd near our travel route to the Masai Mara Serengeti area. We then saw zebra, giraffe, elephants, and many other animals! More pictures to come.
Exploring the paths and hills around Migori before we depart for the Masai Mara safari adventures. So lush and green.
Colorful Love tree painted on the office wall. Dedicated to a great man, Degol, who helped bring the vision of "education for all" to this corner of Kenya.
Showing kids how to peacefully walk the labyrinth in front of the school. Breathe in, breathe out!
We planted several fruit trees around the school, banana, avocado, mango, papaya... The rain fall will help them grow.
Our newly painted sign at the end of the road to the school!
There's are an endless number of sweet friendly faces as we stroll through the paths surrounding the new school in Mikei. Each one of these kids will now be able to attend a vibrant, shining school in September!
We opened the school today to much fanfare, ribbon cutting, and celebrations! Every single Mikei resident was there. We initiated the classrooms by reading and doing puzzles, etc. Here is Albert, a twelve year old, reading to the preschoolers!
Today we visited Maggie's house in Mikei after a long, productive work day at the school. Beatrice and Fred (Maggie's parents) welcomed us to their home and we met the kids and neighbors. Such a peaceful and friendly place!
We are organizing all the supplies, and stocking each classroom with age appropriate activities. All those Legos are ready to be played with. The kids are creating some sample structures for each class!
One more day of work, then it's the ribbon cutting ceremony!
Although today was dedicated to working fully on all the projects at the school, there was still a little time to connect with the kids. The projects that we worked on included: putting up 160 framed pictures on the "wall of wishes" in the school office, painting huge calendars on the chalkboards in each classroom, putting up ABC letters across each classroom, murals, playground work, etc. etc. etc.
Hard work, good purpose, cheerful onlookers, made for a very productive and fulfilling day! We are thankful that a hot meal awaits us at the end of a long work day.
We can't wait to go back to work tomorrow.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Today we spent the day building, painting, drilling, assembling, sorting, digging, and creating all sorts of things inside the school. It looks amazing already and we've only just begun.
The primary school has 4 classrooms, a general purpose room and library, an office, supply room, and an out-house --- everything a kid could want!!
When the kids are around it's hard to work because we want to give them the attention they demand.
Shawdi of course loves meeting all the kids and their wonderful energy. She knows all their names now.
The kids all speak English and are very curious and very friendly. A day of looking into their bright eyes and wide smiles will strengthen any heart.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
This is the most amazing structure in the village -- a brand new, well made, large building!
The kids for Peace school will serve kids starting at the age of 3-4! Teach them while they're young, teach them well, and set them on their way.
Desks and shelves were hand made to furnish the classrooms. Here two Amercan kids show the Kenyan kids the amazing world of iPhones and snap chat!
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
We spent our first day in the village of Mikei totally amazed and smothered by emotions and love! We were warmly greeted by practically every single person in the village through a lively song and dance routine and huge smiles in front of the beautiful new school.
The rest of the day was spent connecting with the kids, chatting and learning from each other, and finally starting work on sorting out the school supplies.
By the end of the day we were exhausted but full of every emotion you can think of! Amazing feeling.
Here's is a view of Nairobi from the hotel rooftop. Last bit of "luxury" before heading into the smaller cities and more remote villages.
Today we headed to the airport to go to Kisumu. We checked in about 50 bags full of school supplies even though each person was limited to only one! With our kindness and smiles we were able to convince several travelers to take one of our check-in bags! By doing this, we saved $50 a pop.
Next stop Kisumu and Migori!
Connecting through Dubai to get to Kenya. Had to see if the fries taste the same here. 😊
Yes they did.
All packed up, loaded with supplies for the school and memory cards to capture the moments! We can't wait to meet the kids of Mikei.
But first we have to ride several hours on unpaved roads to get there. Can you say Indiana Jones ride!
Bowling anyone? We made a mini set with some plastic bottles and a tennis ball. Let's see what the Kenyan kids think about it. The good thing is that they can copy the design and make their own with found bottles there!
We also got creative and made percussion instruments with cans and stretched out balloons. They sounds pretty good.
Thanks to UCSC's UCCSC conference committee for donating enough name tag pouches for our entire Kenya traveling crew!
We are all getting to know each other, and this will make it so much easier. And besides, they have plenty of room to carry our Kenyan shillings!
Thanks Lisa and crew!
Last minute editing for the wall of wishes. Creating best wishes for the kids to see every day when they go to school!
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| Bagging up the Lego blocks. |
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| Here's a picture of Shawdi and I (and Jax). |
